Grab
Grab (formerly known as GrabTaxi) is a technology company that offers wide range of ride-hailing and logistics services through its app in Southeast Asia, specifically in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. As of July 2016, the number of drivers registered in the network was over 350,000, and the Grab app was downloaded onto more than 19 million mobile devices across Southeast Asia. The Grab app assigns taxis nearby commutators through location-sharing system. Every time the company enters a new market, they would buy smartphones for the drivers in countries that they operated in and drivers would pay back through daily instalments for the phone. The company make money by taking a cut of the booking fees. Although some taxi companies tried to stop their own drivers from using the app, Grab decided to reach out directly to taxi drivers by signing them up at airport, hawker centres, taxi queues, and depots. The company also educates taxi drivers on using the smartphone and their mobile app. Apart from large cities, Grab also tried to penetrate the market of smaller cities. History The idea of ride-sharing in Singapore began in 2003, and "GrabCar" was originally conceptualised in 5 January 2005. GrabCar was fully implemented since December 2015, after the successful construction. Originally established in 2012 as MyTeksi in Malaysia, GrabTaxi is a Southeast Asia focused taxi-booking app founded by Harvard Business School graduates Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling. The idea for GrabTaxi first started when Anthony Tan was a student at Harvard Business School and a classmate pulled him aside to gripe about how hard it was to hail a cab in Malaysia. Tan drew up a business plan for an Uber-like service that won backing from angel investors, leading the youngest of three brothers to quit the family business in 2012 to start GrabTaxi, a mobile application that assigns available cabs nearby to commuters using mapping and location-sharing technology. MyTeksi was eventually renamed to GrabTaxi. Tan pitched the idea to the panel of the 2011 Harvard Business Plan Competition, that led to them being placed second, making them the first all-Asian team to have succeeded in many years. GrabTaxi, or MyTeksi as its known in Malaysia, was officially launched to the public in June 2012. The company expanded to the Philippines in August 2013, and to Singapore and Thailand in October of the same year. In May 2014, the company launched GrabCar in Malaysia and Singapore. GrabCar serves as an alternative form of transportation service that uses cars through a licensed partner in an effort to overcome the lack of supply of public transportation during peak hours. On 11 November 2015, Grab introduced GrabHitch for journeys of all the kinds, the benefit is that drivers will be able to offset the cost of the journey, where possible passengers pay approximately half the cost of the taxi. They will login to use the service on Facebook. This allows them to see each other’s profile and whether they share mutual friends. Both parties can also indicate that they only want to travel with someone of the same gender. On 5 December 2016, Grab introduced GrabShare that offers taxi and car sharing service. Angelica Muk and Joeypink Lai had started this together with Emily Eng. On 7 February 2017, Grab gets into the coach-style seating for passengers, it is currently available only for Singapore and is during the learning journey excursions, and is not available for the cross-border trips. In March 2018, Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore ruled that private hire cars who used Uber or Grab service are not exempted from child seat requirement. For safety reasons, all vehicles in Singapore must have booster seats or child restraints for passengers under 1.35m in height. On 9 March 2017, Grab introduced GrabFamily where children under 1.35 metres must be placed on a child booster seat or child restraint, therefore child restraint seats are required. Also, children under 1.35 metres are not allowed into the private hire car, and can only go to either GrabFamily or a taxi. The LTA ruled that private hire cars under Uber or Grab, they are not exempted from child seat requirement. On 22 March 2017, Grab has launched the simplified flat-fare structure, JustGrab. Many people were even penalised for an additional stop, by charging $5 extra. The occurrence was made on July 2017, which was made outside the booking (with Block 123 Tampines Street 11). After the incident, the new multiple stop has been implemented. In March 2017, LTA introduced a new regulation of private hire cars called Private Hire Car Vocational Licence (PDVL), with effect from July 2017, and tagged to the route number. This is to ensure that there are better services, and does not go through wrong ways. From April 2018, ride sharing Grab will introduce the new car service, GrabCar Plus, but riders have to pay 20% as a premium more. The existing GrabCar (Economy), will be removed eventually. Currently, Bert Koh had the Grab app on the phone, but he called it "GrabCab". Victor Tang also had Grab app, Steven Quek had been known to the Grab app, and Ang Chee Kok/Florence Ng also uses Grab app to book for going home crowds. Previously, in Chinese New Year 2018, Simon Ng also knows that can book Uber all the way to my house. Since 13 May 2019, Grab also has food delivery service and piloted with RE&S Enterprises (Ichiban Boshi), which is under GrabFood. Currently, GrabPay is payment service that is for the shopping in Rubi Shoes and TEMT. Funding The initial period was tough with many sceptics. Tan started by going door-to-door to ask the biggest taxi fleet companies to try his product. Only the fifth taxi company he approached, operating a small fleet of 30, gave him a chance. The company progressed and raised US$90 million in 12 months from hedge fund Tiger Global, prominent Chinese venture capital firm GGV Capital, Vertex Venture Holdings (subsidiary of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings), and more. In May 2014, GrabTaxi said it had 1.2 million downloads. At around June 2013, it claimed to be doing one booking every eight seconds, or 10,000 a day, a sixteen-fold growth within a year. By December 2014, it managed to raise US$250 million series D round, fully invested in by SoftBank Corp which is the largest investment ever made in a Southeast Asian internet company on public record thus far. The total investment received by the company over the last 14 months amounted to US$340 million. On the back of the company’s rapid growth, GrabTaxi opened a US$100million Research & Development facility in the Central Business District of Singapore. The new facility houses 200 engineers and data scientists over the next few years. Recently joining their team includes Chief Technology Officer Wei Zhu, ex-Facebook Engineer and creator of Facebook Connect who left the company in Aug 2015. The emphasis on software engineers and data scientists recruitment for the new facility suggests the company’s strategy in development of new tools, possible expansion of app and service features as well as staff management. In 2016, the company will open a new engineering office center in Seattle that will serve as a tech hub to attract talent in the United States. Availability Grab operates in many countries: *Australia *Canada *France *Germany *Hong Kong *Ireland *Malaysia *Singapore *Taiwan *Thailand *Timothy North *United Kingdom Reception The existence of Grab has created a major shakedown in various countries' taxi industry, providing an appealing transportation service to tech savvy populations. In Singapore, Grab received majority votes in an online poll conducted by Singapore’s Straits Times as the taxi app of choice. Similar laws to legalise the service has passed since February 2017. Services available *GrabTaxi: It can be accessed to Singapore's largest number of taxis. These include, ComfortDelGro, SMRT, Premier (Silvercab), Prime, and Transcab. *GrabCar: Chauffeured cars for your every need. *GrabHitch: Get a lift in a cheaper price, save the environment, make new friends. *GrabShare: Share a ride and spend up to 30% less on fares. *GrabCoach: Minivans or buses when you need them. *GrabShuttle: Powered by Beeline, an open mobility platform. *GrabFamily: Travel safer with your little ones. *GrabAssist: GrabAssist drivers are trained in helping out passengers with different accessibility needs. These drivers have undergone training, so they can provide safe and convenient rides to persons with disability, the elderly, or anyone who needs an extra pair of hands. *GrabPet: When your furry friend wants in on a day out, just grab your pet and get a Grab. GrabPet is a new on-demand service to get you and your pet around comfortably and conveniently. Now, the vet, your groomer’s, and your pet’s favourite cafe are just a tap away! *JustGrab: The nearest car or taxi at an affordable fixed flat fare. Multiple destinations *Ah Hong + Elsie Koh/Goo Ching Heaw (from Verde View) *Koh Bee Sai + Jeremy Koh (from Verde View) *Koh Bee Sai + Jeremy Koh (from Singapore Casket) GrabShuttle Plus GrabShuttle Plus is a on-demand shuttle service by Grab, which offers point-to-point bus routes at affordable prices, supplementing existing public transport services with more direct bus routes. Personalised shuttle services can be booked directly from the GrabShuttle Plus App immediately or up to 3 days in advance. References Category:Companies of Singapore Category:Companies established in 2012 Category:Application software Category:Mobile software Category:Car sharing Category:Transportation network companies Category:Uberisation Category:2012 establishments in Malaysia